New Delhi: Nikhil Gupta, the Indian national who is accused of playing a vital role alongside an Indian government official to kill pro-Khalistan leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has said that nobody from the Indian government has contacted him despite his family raising several requests.
Gupta, who was extradited from the Czech Republic seven months back, is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
“Since I have been extradited to the US from Prague (on June 14), I haven’t received any consular access. Nobody has visited me from the Indian embassy. My family raised several requests for the same; however, nobody has visited me to date,” Gupta told The Indian Express in an exclusive interview.
He added that during his previous detention in Prague, he had thrice received Indian consular access.
The 53-year-old Gupta also denied all links to Vikash Yadav, who is accused of being his co-conspirator in the plot to murder Pannun and termed the evidence presented by the police as “fabricated.”
He added that he has been forced to discontinue the services of a private attorney and request a government-appointed counsel in the US due to the financial toll the long legal battle has taken on his family.
“All the funds we had were spent on fighting the case in the Czech Republic. The court appointed me a lawyer on October 30, but after conducting my own research, I discovered that the lawyers assigned to me lack the necessary expertise and experience in criminal defense and cases of this nature. With all due respect, one of them became a federal defender just 10 days prior to being appointed to my case, on October 20. I genuinely want the best lawyer for my defense, but my family and I simply cannot afford it.”
The Indian government had earlier denied any role in the alleged assassination plot against Pannun.
